Prevention is better than cure

In Cuba, women’s gynecological healthcare is fully guaranteed, Dr. Ana Margarita Solares Asteasuanizarra, a member of the Cuban Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Assistant Professor at Havana’s University of Medical Sciences, told Granma International.

---

11 de mayo de 2018 - Tomado de Granma

National

In Cuba, women’s gynecological healthcare is fully guaranteed, Dr. Ana Margarita Solares Asteasuanizarra, a member of the Cuban Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Assistant Professor at Havana’s University of Medical Sciences, told Granma International.

She explained that there is a national structure is this regard, based on primary care in health institutions at the local level, which guarantee prevention, education and awareness actions aimed at women and their families. The Federation of Cuban Women and other mass organizations are linked to this work to provide preventive knowledge about personal care and signs one should see a doctor.

“Cervical cancer is a preventable disease,” the second grade specialist in Gynecology and Obstetrics continued. It can be detected through regular cervical cytology tests (better known as Pap smears), that women should undergo every three years from the age of 25 through to 64.

According to global data, it is estimated that 466,000 new cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed each year, and 231,000 women die from it annually, of which more than 80% of deaths occur in developing countries. In Latin America and the Caribbean, there are an estimated 68,000 new cases reported every year.

Dr. Solares, who is also Havana provincial head of cervix disorder consultations and chairperson of the colposcopy and lower genital tract diseases committee, highlighted the efforts of the Cuban state to ensure the necessary equipment and technologies are available in each family doctor’s office and local health institution, to carry out cervical screening tests on one hundred percent of Cuban women in the aforementioned age range.

“Unfortunately, 30% of women do not come for a Pap test. Simply, women at risk of suffering from this cancer are asymptomatic, and at an age in which they are developing socially, intellectually and professionally. So they don’t go to the doctor of their own accord,” explained Dr. Solares, who also holds a Master of Science in Contemporary Biotechnology Trends.

Awareness on the importance of visiting the doctor as a preventative measure is still something that needs to be addressed, the specialist noted. Although records are held regarding the location of at risk women, and they are advised of when they should have a Pap test done, there are a large number of cases of changes of address, even from one province to another, which are not reported to authorities.

Comentarios